The yearly maximum Arctic sea-ice extent occurs in February/March, which is also the timing for the yearly minimum Antarctic sea-ice extent. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute uses satellite data to track and describe sea-ice extent on a daily basis.
This story will follow the sea-ice conditions toward seasonal turning points and will be updated daily.
Sea-ice maximum in the Arctic
The Arctic sea ice has reached its seasonal maximum sea-ice extent on March 7, 2022, with a coverage of 14.92 million km². This ice extent is below the 1981-2010 climatology but in the upper end of the recent ten years' low maxima. Figure 1 shows the daily sea-ice extent over the whole year, updated on a daily basis.
The table below shows the previous top-5 highest and lowest maxima of sea-ice extent recorded in the Arctic, and at what day they occurred. The 2022 maximum was not among these:
|
Top 5 highest Arctic maxima |
Top 5 lowest Arctic maxima |
|---|---|
|
1979-02-27 16.66 million km2 1982-02-25 16.55 million km2 1983-03-12 16.50 million km2 1988-03-08 16.45 million km2 1980-03-07 16.42 million km2 |
2017-02-23 14.60 million km2 2018-03-16 14.62 million km2 2016-03-22 14.69 million km2 2015-02-25 14.70 million km2 2006-03-09 14.83 million km2 |
Sea-ice minimum in the Antarctic
The Antarctic sea-ice extent has been among the lowest since November 2021 and now the ice has passed the seasonal minimum and fallen to all-time record-low values. The seasonal minimum was reached February 18, with a coverage of 2.17 km². Read more about the Antarctic sea-ice minimum here.
The table below shows the top-5 lowest and highest minima of sea-ice extent recorded in the Antarctic, and at what day they occurred. 2022 sea-ice extent has become a new record-low for Antarctic sea ice, replacing the previous 2017-record.
|
Top 5 lowest Antarctic minima |
Top 5 highest Antarctic minima |
|---|---|
|
2022-02-18 2.17 million km2 2017-03-01 2.24 million km2 2018-02-19 2.33 million km2 1997-02-26 2.48 million km2 2011-02-21 2.52 million km2 |
2008-02-19 4.09 million km2 2013-02-19 3.91 million km2 2015-02-22 3.87 million km2 2003-02-19 3.84 million km2 2014-02-18 3.83 million km2 |
Global status of the sea ice
While the Arctic sea ice is approaching its maximum and Antarctic sea ice its minimum, the total global sea ice normally reaches its seasonal minimum in mid-February. This year, the global sea ice minimum became among the three lowest on record and it occurs as one of the nine latest minima.
The table below shows the top-5 lowest and highest minima of global sea-ice extent, and at what day they occurred. 2022 sea ice is among the lowest extents ever recorded. Note, that the four highest global sea-ice extents all happened in the 1980s, whereas the four lowest extents all happened within the recent 7 years:
|
Top 5 lowest Global minima |
Top 5 highest Global minima |
|---|---|
|
2018-02-13 16.46 million km2 2017-02-10 16.59 million km2 2022-02-18 16.91 million km2 2016-02-17 17.10 million km2 2006-02-19 17.14 million km2 |
1987-03-03 19.40 million km2 1982-02-11 19.39 million km2 1983-02-10 19.31 million km2 1986-02-14 19.26 million km2 2003-02-06 19.17 million km2 |
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* In the time series of daily sea ice extent, the thick, dark grey line represents the median daily sea ice extent during the 1981–2010 reference period; the darker grey shaded envelope represents the interquartile range (difference between the 25th and 75th percentiles) during 1981–2010; the lighter grey shaded envelope represents the interdecile range (difference between the 10th and 90th percentiles) during 1981–2010; and the dashed grey lines represent the lowest and highest values recorded for each day of the year during the full record of 1979–2020. Note that the present year combines a black and a red line which represents the slightly different retrieval methods behind the data. The black covers the Interim Climate Data Record data, and the red is the supplementing near-real-time data.
